1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to catheters used for access to the central venous blood supply of a patient. 2. Description of Related Art
Catheters such as central venous line catheters are typically used in ICU (intensive care unit) patients, particularly in those patients who have suffered a stroke or other brain traumatic event. The central venous line catheters are typically about 8.5-12 French in size and consist of a soft, flexible multi-lumen structure extending 8-12 inches. They are usually introduced through the subclavian or jugular vein, and less preferably in the femoral vein of the patient, serving to provide the caretaker with easy and convenient access to the patient's central blood supply via the central venous system. In this manner general access to the central blood supply is gained, enabling for example delivery of drugs, infusion fluids or nutrition, along with the gathering of patient blood for blood gas analysis and the like.
In many patients, such as ICU patients, fever is a common occurrence. Fever is particularly likely in neuro-ICU patients, and its onset can exacerbate detrimental effects in the brain. Conventional therapies to control fever include treatment with acetaminophen (Tylenol), cooling blankets, ice water bladder lavages, and ice baths. All of these approaches to cooling a patient require excessive time to cool the patient. Moreover, prior methods do not provide for precise control of patient cooling. As recognized herein, to optimize the advantage of cooling a patient, it is important to cool the patient relatively quickly in a controlled fashion.
Recognizing the above-mentioned deleterious effects of fever in ICU patients and the insufficiencies of present temperature control methods and devices, the present assignee has disclosed, in co-pending patent application Ser. Nos. 09/133,813 and 09/063,984, indwelling catheters that can be implanted in the body of a patient to remove heat from the blood supply of the patient. The indwelling catheters of the above-referenced applications are disposed in a heat exchange relationship with the blood supply, and a coolant is circulated through the catheters in a closed loop. These catheters lower the temperature of body tissue and, as mentioned above, can thereby improve the patient's medical outcome.
As understood by the present invention, the advantages of the above-referenced cooling catheters can be implemented into a central venous catheter configuration. As mentioned above, central venous catheters are commonly used in many ICU patients, including neuro-ICU patients, and with these combined recognitions, the present invention understands that it would be advantageous to provide a central venous catheter with the additional capability of cooling a patient. In doing so, the present invention satisfies the goals both of conventional central venous catheters as well as providing a means for effectively and precisely managing patient temperature in a single device.